Rivian owners who like to drive hands-free will discover they can travel a lot further than they expected later this month. The EV start-up plans to increase from 150,000 to 3.5 million the number of miles its autonomous driving system can operate on. And, starting late next year, it plans to go even further with the release of the new R2 model which will be Rivian’s first to permit hands-free/eyes-off driving. According to CEO RJ Scaringe, there’s yet more to follow.
Rivian reports fire at its Normal, Illinois assembly plant. Fire damaged multiple EVs in a storage lot but it’s not known how many were destroyed by the blaze and whether it will affect deliveries of vehicles to consumers.
Volkswagen’s investment deal with Rivian opened up new avenues of cooperation between the two firms in the world of electrification. However, Volkswagen confirms that plans for the revival of the Scout brand are still on track despite its agreement with the upstart EV company.
Rivian announced it will slash both its corporate staff and production this year after reporting more than $1.5 billion in losses for the final three months of 2023. Even as it prepares to unveil an entirely new family of battery-electric vehicles, CEO RJ Scaringe warned the nascent automaker “is not immune” to the headwinds battering the U.S. EV market after four years of record growth. Separately, EV startup Lucid also forecast flattening sales after reporting worsening losses.
Rivian plans to take a step closer to becoming a full-line automaker next month, the automaker confirming it will reveal its R2 line on March 7. Smaller than the existing R1T pickup and R1S SUV, the R2 models also will be more affordable, officials last year indicating they could start around $40,000. Get the details at Headlight.News.
The New Year got off to a rough start for Rivian, the start-up slammed by investors nervous about slowing growth in EV sales. But the market is taking notice of the news that Rivian has poached DJ Novotny, the vice president of hardware engineering away from Apple. The move comes as the tech giant reportedly again delayed – by as much as four years – its secretive Apple Car program. More from Headlight.News.
Only a few years ago, an array of EV start-ups appeared poised to revolutionize the auto industry. Today, many have vanished while others struggle for survival. There have been a few success stories but the shake-out is likely to continue, reports Headlight.News.